Green Township sewer project to be bid

GALLIPOLIS — Gallia County Commissioners intend to go forward with the construction bidding process of sewer lines in Green Township that will be connected with the upgraded Gallipolis wastewater treatment plant.

“It (the sewer line construction) really starts at the Gallipolis city limits,” said David Smith, Gallia County Commissioner. “On State Route 141, the line then goes out to Graham School Road. It goes up Graham School Road. It really ends on Lincoln Pike, pretty close to 141. Then it goes out where the high school is. That’s Centenary Road. It goes out through there to a little subdivision called Porterbrook. We were under findings from Ohio EPA that we needed go out and provide sewer for that area. That’s phase one.”

According to the commissioner, he believes the amount of pipeline to be laid is around 20,000 feet.

According to Gallia County Commission President Brent Saunders, bidding for the project is anticipated to be done in two separate ways. One way will attempt to bid the project out to a single company in its entirety. The other will attempt to bid the phase one project in three separate pieces.

“We’re going to bid it both ways,” Smith said. “With the project engineer, we (commissioners) will look at the different ways it’s bid and figure out which is best from our perspective and then award those bids based upon that. Whatever is most cost-efficient.”

Commissioners said that because of the size of the project, contractors might have a more difficult time establishing construction bonds for the project. Construction bonds can be utilized by investors in such projects to defend against unfavorable events that may cause a project’s failed completion due to an inability to meet contact specifications. Splitting up the project into smaller pieces may allow for contractors to more easily acquire bonding.

“If we split it up, we might be able to get it done quicker and the county commission can have a bit more input on what’s done and how steps are taken,” Smith said. “We’d like to hook people into the system as we go so that others aren’t waiting as we complete the project.”

Commissioners anticipate there are about 650 households in the township to be serviced.

Bid notices will advertise with the Daily Tribune for three consecutive weeks with the bid opening scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 3 at 11 a.m. The project construction is anticipated to take place this fall and is estimated to take place over a span of 18 months.